We are honored to once again have a few of our Martin City businesses recognized as Cornerstone Finalists by the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri. Congratulations to MMC Contractors and Fishtech for making the 2017 Finalist list! We are proud to have these two incredibly valuable companies in Martin City, and especially appreciate the leadership and contribution they have provided in helping us transform our district.

Martin City has seen an abundance of growth over the past few years and we are proud to say it’s because our business owners and community leaders have worked tirelessly – together – in a collective effort to improve the quality of experiences people have when they visit us. Remember only two years ago? We had no sidewalks in Martin City. Outdoor patio dining wasn’t even a thing.

Take a look around now and you’ll not only see sidewalks but new streetscape, beautiful hanging baskets, and additional parking along 135th Street. Not just one but at least five restaurants in Martin City now offer outdoor patio dining and several have live music on select nights of the week. It’s been amazing to see the profound impact a few basic infrastructure improvements have had on our community and are thankful to everyone who has helped us move closer to our goals.

One of those goals has been to attract and retain manufacturing, engineering, and technology companies to our district. We have a variety of commercial buildings and warehouse space in and around our boundaries and are in a prime location – just down the street from Counterpoint Intermodal Center, the Honeywell National Security Plant, and Smithfield Foods (who is actually in Martin City). We also work hard to encourage existing Martin City companies to stay in our district and do whatever we can to help them grow.

Cornerstone Finalist MMC Contractors has been in Martin City for 10 years and has been a longtime supporter of the CID. When their building lease at 13800 Wyandotte ended in 2016, they faced a decision: expand their existing facility or move elsewhere. MMC Contractors’ President Keith Andrews said the decision to stay in Martin City was a no-brainer.

“We love our location in Martin City! It’s a nice, safe community with quick access to the entire metro,” said Andrews.“The area is booming, and our employees have built their lives around this community. It would be a disruption to our entire company if we moved.”

On the opposite side of our district at 13333 Holmes Road, we’ve been fortunate to witness the incredible unfolding of Cornerstone Finalist Fishtech’s brand new $10 million headquarters facility and showroom. The building was created using state of the art sustainable materials and technologies and is expected to bring anywhere from 50-70 new jobs.

“When people think about technology companies, you don’t see a lot headquartered in South Kansas City,” said CEO Gary Fish, an industry veteran and serial entrepreneur with experience in building both industry-changing integrators and technology manufacturers. Fishtech is a cloud security company who partners with companies to solve their complex security and digital transformation challenges.

“We are building this really cool facility that looks like it belongs over in Leawood but it’s going to be right here in Martin City. We hope FishTech will spawn a birth of redevelopment, especially as we start bringing employees here.”

FishTech has been working on community partnerships with local school districts, colleges, and charities, and Laura Potter, Director of Vendor Management at Fishtech recently joined the CID’s board of directors.

“I want us to make a real impact in the community of Martin City,” said Fish. “We want to focus on something long-term and create a legacy in South Kansas City. I think we can make a big difference.”

We are incredibly proud and excited to have both MMC Contractors and FishTech recognized as 2017 Cornerstone Finalists and look forward to supporting them at the Cornerstone Awards Reception on May 9th! For more information about the EDC’s Cornerstone Awards, please visit the EDCKC website.